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50 Marketing Leaders Over 50 You Should Know

Let’s recognize that age has little to do with ability. You’re never too young or too old if you’ve got talent. In the marketing world, Advertising Age and Direct Marketing News have their 40 under 40 lists. Forbes has their 30 under 30. This blog post counterbalances with 50 who are over 50 because to my knowledge a list of this nature has never been published.

Now, before I present my list let me provide some background details and key learning’s. Yes, in case you are wondering, I am over 50, and this group was mainly pulled together through my personal Twitter followers. I’m currently ranked as the 3rd most followed Chief Marketing Officer on Twitter by Social Media Marketing Magazine. Since I have nearly 60 thousand followers I was confident there would be at least 50 profiles representing marketing leaders over 50 years of age that are street smart, innovative and doing remarkable work. I just needed to identify them, and hope they would admit to being over 50! I also wanted to ask them two questions:

1. How and where do you find innovative ideas?
2. What’s the best way to keep your eye on the future?

It has been an interesting and fun process to assemble this list because I’ve learned some things about my Twitter connections that I didn’t know, and I’ll be a better marketer for it. I’ve also gained a greater appreciation for my network in the 40-50 age range who reached out to help me with profile suggestions. They are not yet old enough to make my list and they are too old for the others, but they were still ready to help. Isn’t it annoying when your demographic is ignored? We’ll have to fix that in the future!

This project has taken longer than I expected. What you have to consider is that this group is very busy as many of them run their own companies. That means their focus is on growing their business and not on wasteful distractions like lists! I also confirmed that some were not eager to anticipate follow-up tweets and contact from the AARP! OK, what I really mean is that they didn’t want to be branded as old. During my correspondences it was not uncommon for a candidate to say “I love the idea behind your list, but hesitate to participate because I don’t want to be thought of as old.” Age is a funny thing. We think about it differently at various points in time as it relates to our career. Wouldn’t it be great if we truly recognized that you’re never too young or too old if you’ve got talent? In the meantime, in no particular order, here is my list of senior marketing connections on Twitter you should know:

1. Collaborating with my clients in Silicon Valley who have innovative new technology and are willing to apply new management approaches, lecturing at top business schools, my twitter community.
2. Build a diverse set of information sources and pay attention to new technology or trends that could provide new business models or approaches.

1. I have two go-to areas for innovation – an extensive network of innovative people who I can brainstorm with – this ranges from CRM and technology industry veterans to extremely bright kids who are new and fresh to the industry. The second area for inspiration and innovation in business is music, literature and other cultural arenas. In particular, comedy, especially satire sharpens and hones me for thinking in an innovative way. Long live Woody Allen, S.J. Perelman and Saturday Night Live! Among many others.
2. The best way to keep your eye on the future is to pay attention to anomalies that you see. For example, in 2009, a couple of studies appeared that said for the first time in history, more people were communicating via social networks than email. That would be two studies of, let’s say, a thousand. But the fact that those two anomalous studies existed at all, indicated the beginnings of a truly seismic shift that is ongoing (not there yet) where that is going to become generally true, no longer an anomaly. In 2007, for example, NONE of those studies would appear. So find the anomalies, and keep your eyes on them.

1. Reading Feedly feeds regularly, producing my podcast, blog & videos, Attending classes at Harvard Business School, Speaking at Air Force Academy and hanging with cool, brilliant people!
2. Learn from the past, but look to the future. Constantly disrupt your staid thinking with fresh, innovative ideas from different sources, new materials and new ideas. Live! Life is just beginning every day!

1. I find innovative ideas in the bits of information gathered from collaborating with many on and off line then creating a new mental model with meaning from all the ideas.
2. The best way to keep your eye on the future is to study the disruptive forces that lie at the intersection of technology with the human network.

1. I’m an idea junkie. I love learning about fresh strategies both inside & outside my profession and industry. The best ideas come from the mash-ups.
2. Look to the younger people! Their perspectives and approaches help me see things differently. And, when combined with your hard-earned wisdom, it virtually assures that you stay a game-changer.

1. I’ve become a student of understanding how the idea in the corner will impact the trends in the big booth. I look toward people and companies trying to leverage converging rails of technology. I’ve applied what I see to our business model and software development.
2. I listen to and try to understand the challenges businesses are confronted with and why. I find that by tacking the technologies corporations are investing in and understanding why they are successful or perhaps more importantly, not as successful as hoped, gives me a window into the talent and services which will be in demand.

1. Go to museums, lectures at Harvard Business School and travel the US and the world—preferably on a motorcycle.
2. Don’t sit in your office, get out and talk to people of all different stripes, stay up on the news (TV, newspapers, online, Twitter), take a university class and hire lots of interns.

1. I watch consumers and pay close attention to their buying habits and then match those needs/wants/desires to our client’s products or services; creating visuals and text that matches the consumer.
2. Read…nearly everything. We also use Twitter to scan various key-words, Facebook to catch a sense, YouTube to see what’s hot and follow other leaders in the industries we touch.

1. I don’t find the best innovative ideas, they find me. The secret is to cultivate copiousness. Be very deliberate in filling your mind with the widest variety of sensations, information and stimuluae. Ideas will then sprout like wildflowers.
2. Read science fiction and speculative fiction, and pay real close attention to toddlers and teenagers.

1. Most of my innovative ideas originate during formal brainstorming sessions and casual discussions with other creative marketers, not just those who are over 50, but those who are under 50 as well. I also get inspiration and interesting ideas from my company’s customers.
2. For me, the best way to keep an eye on the future is to regularly read (or at least scan) the leading print publications and content websites written about the wireless industry and the marketing profession. Also, listening to other innovative marketers and participating in social media helps keep me current.

1. I listen! To most everyone I can in my industry (Email Marketing) and read a lot. I read blog posts, whitepapers, listen on twitter and books. I also talk a lot to those much younger that me that might have a better pulse on “what’s new” and what the cool kids are doing.
2. Again I listen! There always seems to be new companies coming up with new tools or integration that give benefit to the email marketing industry. I try to be open about new options to be more effective with data, testing, and creative. Again I keep the younger crowd close. It seems as we get older we get a little set in our ways, we become less open to outside influence, I try to be open as possible to hearing about and understanding how people connect with businesses. Whether it be with email, social, mobile, etc. I’m open to learning from others.

1. Vibrant Twitter community, interviews with the brightest minds on social business and social branding for upcoming new book, The Social Employee (McGraw-Hill, summer 2013) (@SocialEmployee) – Success lessons from big brands, IBM, AT&T, Dell, Cisco, Southwest, Adobe, Acxiom and Domo.
2. Listen and engage both online and offline with disruptive innovative thinkers!

1. Everyone has their own social media poison I think. Some folks are naturals for Facebook, others are more visual and prefer Pinterest and some like me, are Twitter oriented. Twitter reminds me of my old days with CB Radio, but it has the added advantage of allowing for better filtering and curating of content. As well, it’s a great “now” surveillance medium just like CB was. It begs the question: What are you thinking or doing right now?
2. Boomers have an advantage when it comes to “seeing the future” because (to paraphrase Tom Chapin) we can see where we are and we know where we’ve been. Having perspective gives you foresight. If you are over 50 and you can put digital into an analog frame of reference, you are ahead of the game. If you realize that people make the digital world and not the other way around then you are miles ahead. We aren’t so much exploring new territory as we are exploring old territory (ourselves) in new ways. So, knowing where we’ve been gives one an advantage in being able to see where we are going. Because social is not about the technology, but about how we use it and human nature doesn’t change as fast as technology does.

1. In this business of developing ideas and campaigns, finding places where my mind is open to create and observe is important. Driving is one of them. The other is at retail – among products and purchasers (malls, grocery, etc.). And, of course, being aware of what’s trending on relevant social platforms.
2. I speak regularly at universities, so being around a younger generation is key. College students and 20-somethings have their own ideas about purchasing and are just coming into their own as influencers. To me, these are the thought leaders of the future, so it’s worth keeping an eye on who / what they perceive as the trends, brands and innovators of tomorrow.

1. I firmly believe the best way to get ideas is to go out and chat with people. I recommend just ‘getting out’ to my client and organise ‘meet and drinks’ chats with customers, partners and start-ups.
2. It’s impossible to predict the future. Trying is pointless. But meet people who might just create the products of the future is a great way to get a sense of what’s possible.

1. That’s a slam dunk, Alan. I created and host the popular show Marketing Made Simple TV, so I find the most interesting guests. Case in point, when I was offered a chance to present a TED-like talk to a big meeting, I used the ideas I learned from the lady on my show Robbin Phillips, Courageous CEO of Brains on Fire.
2. Network like crazy, Meet cool people, like you, Alan. Read a lot. Write blog posts. Go to meetings. Social media opens a huge world of contacts.

1. I find ideas all over the place. I think the key is to keep your mind open and not be overawed by the common wisdom. Basically, it is not that hard to innovate if you don’t feel a need to follow the crowd. The purpose of marketing, after all, is to get your company/product/service/ideas noticed. You can’t do that if you stand firmly in the middle of what everyone else is doing. And the purpose of innovating is to increase revenues, let’s not forget that.
2. Trends are the consequence of millions of people making personal decisions for their own reasons. The key to understanding the future is to understand why people are acting the way they do. Marketers can influence fads, but they have to follow and anticipate – and understand the underlying reasons for – trends.

1. I don’t consider myself especially creative, but I’m good at recognizing great ideas in conversation or through reading (blog posts mainly, these days), and then adapting them to my business. It takes a fair amount of work though. In order to appreciate great ideas, you have to sift through all of the many bad ones as well.
2. Same answer as number 1: talk to people and read. The struggle I have is getting out of my comfort zone and talking to people who are younger, older, and who have radically different outlooks from mine. This is where blogs have been so helpful. Engaging with bloggers has connected me with very smart people I never would have interacted with otherwise.

1. I get up early every day-up by 5-and for 2 hours or so, I read. I have the best blogs in my google reader and get so many innovative ideas there. From Strategy-Business, to SEOMoz to Kissmetrics, Fast Company to the HBR, reading gives me the most insight into new and different ideas. (If you need links, I have them)
2. Be open to it. I hate it when people say that as you get older, you get more set in your ways. I think you can, but do not have to. I like to explore new ideas, listen to people who are completely opposed to how I think and imagine, “What life experiences, what teaching, what made them have those opinions? I believe in “Assume the best intentions of other, Seek first to understand their point of view ” and that keeps my eye on the future.

1. Innovation is a state of mind, not a place or a process. I find innovative ideas all around me by observing life and imagining the art of the possible.
2. It sounds trite, but the best way to keep your eye on the future is by imagining it, looking through the windshield and not the rear view mirror.

1. I consume a variety of content (industry events/trade shows, industry newsletters, social media feeds, etc.) to learn about current issues/challenges facing my current and prospective clients. I tie that information back to my nearly 40 years of experience in insurance/financial services marketing and, from that, generate ideas.
2. By embracing technology and its influence on industry trends. Also, by staying current with legislative changes that impact how insurance/financial services marketers acquire new customers, especially in the boomers/age 50+ space.

1. I get my innovative ideas through much research, participating in conversations and discussions on LinkedIn and Twitter as well as face-to-face meetings and events. I match this input with my personal experience- basically understanding the problems I have identified and developing solutions based on what I have learned.
2. The best way to keep my eye on the future is the same use of social media and networking but also watching industries other than mine to see what is working there and anticipating the use of process and systems in my industry. So, a lot of benchmarking through every way possible!

1. Innovation is supported by diversity and collaboration. A few tips:
• Give vendors 5 minutes of your time. It is likely that their company has a number of innovative ideas which underpin their value proposition.
• Encourage your teams to focus on outcomes rather than activities and therefore provide them with an environment where they can think out of the box.
• Collaborate across departments and geographies so many more diverse viewpoints are captured and considered.
2. Spend more time with clients on better understanding what is keeping them up at night.
Form strong relationships with a small number of the peer companies who are conveying leading-edge thinking and best practice. Network and network, you can never listen enough or have too many viewpoints or ideas.

1. Create mindspace (for me, it’s working out and/or listening to music) so that my unconscious mind is free to solve problems while my conscious mind recharges and regenerates the unconscious with stimulating life.
a. Voraciously snack on great “content” i.e., read a lot
b. Ask tough questions of really smart people; where:
i. My social community (mostly smart, snarky people)
ii. Diverse connections — young, old, and mostly not in my industry
2. Make sense of the past in the proper context of what I’m trying to do in the future.
a. Ask great questions / interrogate the world
b. Create a list of signposts and signals that might be indicators of true future vs. flashes — being active in this way typically enables me to filter signal from noise.

1. My favorite ideas come from letting the problem solving process play out. Quickly eliminating the obvious solutions allows real fresh thinking to percolate into ideas. The ones that excite me are the ones I run with.
2. I think an eye to the future means realizing it’s already here. So engage voraciously with the now. Look at what’s out there that’s cutting edge, figure out what makes it distinct, and always remember you’re as much a part of it as anyone.

1. Observation, Listening, Brainstorming: Taking a careful, thoughtful and active interest in the question that needs to be answered. Learning: After 25 years in broadcast communications management, I decided to return to university and complete the degree uncompleted years earlier. I found it invigorating being surrounded by many bright young people who were eager to tell me that this or that is not how things are looked at today. I have tried to glean the best of the best from the experience. Read and watch movies for knowledge, stimulation and inspiration.
2. Nurture Optimism: Always believe there are hope and a future that can be better than today or yesterday. Embrace Discontentment: Revel in successes briefly and move on knowing today’s innovation can be improved. Foster an environment of forgiveness: Innovation can only occur where stumbling, falling and periodic misdirection is accepted as part and parcel to trying new things. Keep trying. Refer back to the 1st point.

1. I try to pay attention to the world around me. My oldest son at 27 is an Internet native, and a lot of ideas come from he and his friends. My youngest son at 2 provides inspiration as he adapts his world to his special needs. One of my best resources is my wife, the consummate (an over-used but appropriate word) shopper; what she buys, what she doesn’t, and why is always an enigma. Oh, and reality TV….
2. By understanding the past and the present; learning from our own and other’s mistakes; and not being distracted by the little things that are easily distracting. Watching and listening to people of all ages while keeping watch for innovative ideas that improve people’s quality of life at different stages throughout life.

1. I find innovative ideas by doing things that help stop and empty my mind. If my mind is busy and filled, there is no time or room for innovation. Walking outside, meditating, playing the piano, reading – all of those give me pause and help my mind make room for innovation. Where is in nature, music and solitude.
2. The best way to keep your eye on the future is to engage it. Talk to the future – the younger generation. “Kids” in their 20s are bright. They are tech savvy. They totally embrace new. Always wonder . . . always learn . . . and always – as a three-year old would do – ask WHY?

1. I find innovation by questioning the status quo. When I hear “that’s the way it’s always been done,” or “here are the rules for X, Y, or Z,” I get hot and bothered.
2. Be constantly curious. Focus on lifelong learning. Read. Seek the company of people who are smart, worldly and talented. Take online courses. Go back to school. Write about something you want to know more about. Become fluent in another language. Travel.

1. How and where do you find innovative ideas? For me, it starts with a voracious curiosity about random facts, relevant trends and personal passions pursued via all available media. From there, it’s a matter of tricking the brain to connect seemingly disparate dots into something fresh.
2. What’s the best way to keep your eye on the future? Talking with forward-thinking people and then forcing you to turn these conversations into cogent if not prescient articles.

1. I have always been a big consumer of news – national, world, local, sports, entertainment, business, technology – and now find Social Media, especially Twitter, to be a great source of inspiration (to where it leads me, actually). Recently, I heard Ira Glass talk, and directed advice to aspiring journalists and writers, but it holds for all of us, at any stage. He said, you need to spend half your time poking around (“turning over rocks” is my favorite way to put it) so the other half of the time you have something to write about!
2. I have always been an early adopter (at least in many categories) – nothing like hands-on experiences to ascertain something’s impact on the future.

1. Innovative ideas come to me most often when I’m doing something not related to business. Soaking in a tub, driving, walking. It could be anywhere, anytime but it is important to be open to ideas when they come. Another great source of ideas is listening to your customers. I had one company that I started in 2000 and one of my clients mentioned that they were looking for a technology that didn’t exist. I listened to what they were looking for, and created a new product to fit their needs. As a result, I launched a new company based on that one conversation in 2003: eDataSource.com.
2. Every morning I read a series of newspapers, blogs, and journals to keep up on what is going on but my best source of information is my network of peers that I communicate with on a daily basis. Being part of a community that is focused on my industry has been the greatest, easiest, and most dynamic method of staying in touch with issues that affect the digital marketing industry.

1. I have found that innovation occurs thought-out the organization and not just in a top down hierarchical manner thus as CMO my role was to spin a web across employees, partners and customers both in and out of my industry to find examples of innovation that could be adopted in whole or radically modified to meet a different set of challenges. The key is to keep an open mind and align with those not afraid of change especially those out of your normal ecosystems. In my ‘blue ocean’ strategic workshops I encouraged my team at Avaya who were tasked with supporting third party consultants to hold briefings where the agenda was NOT on solving a current problems (those were addressed separately) buy to look at where technology has gone and to imagine the art of the possible. By proactively approaching clients with solutions to problem they did not know they had we thus established a more strategic relationship with them. I also believe Innovation can be both incremental and radical. It’s not always about inventing the new but reinventing the old.
2. What’s the best way to keep your eye on the future? In my case it was about staying on top of business challenges that our clients and markets struggled with, learning from the past but being open to chart a new course. It may involve redefining a market or a new set of non-traditional competitors. A great example of what is happening today is the product development that is originating in emerging markets and being brought back to address the long tail of our mature markets versus the traditional approach to innovating centrally and pushing to out across the globe irrespective of local market needs. New advances in collaboration technologies has fundamentally changed the way groups innovate around the world.

1. In my opinion, 1 & 2 go together: Brainstorming calls with peers, an annual retreat I attend, looking outside my network, reading/absorbing a variety of different perspectives to look for unique crossovers and pushing my work farther with each new project. Feedback from speaking and publishing that makes me think differently about my work.

1. Ideas are everywhere! I spend a great deal of time on the road and often use this time to meet with and list to people both inside and outside the discipline, people in the trenches and on the front line and people who have a view at 50,000 feet. I’m especially interested in learning about their current challenges, where they see the bright spots, what trends they are noticing, what they are reading and why, and what is something they recently learned or wish they knew. A good glass of wine during these conversations can be very helpful. I try to make it a point to monitor major publications both industry and academic to look for trends and see what people are talking and thinking about. If it resonates with me perhaps it will with others. And I find mental energy and ideas come more easily when my mind is free to roam, like during a long run, or lap after lap in the pool, or working in the garden.

1. I find that the key is to stay current in your main area of interest and probe into some entirely different areas. I think creativity is often at the intersection of two ways of looking at things. For example my interests in product innovation and social media have provided some insights and ideas on co-creation. Over in Finance and Economics the trailblazing innovations and new ideas of the last 15 years is to bring knowledge of biases from psychology into their areas: behavioral finance and behavioral economics. Stretch yourself!
2. Stay current and watch the cutting edge. I scan marketing journals, but I also scan Scientific American, Wired, and Fast Company… and go to entrepreneur meetings to see what wild ideas are being talked about.

1. On the beach free thinking or traveling cities around the world. Or being inspired by elementary school, high school and college kids. Hanging out with the leading academic thinkers and technical researchers. Connecting dots in new ways! Dare to be extreme and disruptive!
2. Read and travel 300k miles a year. Always find and challenge the underlying assumptions and the norms. Ask why but also why not? Diversify your perspective and inputs. Experience what’s new yourself. Hire the best and brightest but nontraditional as well. Set an environment and expect out of the box thinking. Start with envisioning the future!

1. Read until my eyes give out — HBR, McKinsey Quarterly, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, selected blogs.
2. Talk less, listen more — to leaders in and out of my industry, to social and market researchers, to a philosopher or two along the way, to bright young minds that surround me.

1. I get my best innovative ideas through direct qualitative research with customers/buyers for clients and combining this work with curiosity. Meaning, you need to be able to connect the dots to reveal insight and understanding, which leads to new ideas. Ideas which helps us to see the world differently.
2. Keeping your eye on the future requires a new capability as a result of our hyper-connected society. The capability of assimilating information and translating it into meaning is going to become a much needed skill in the future. My advice to the younger generation in their 30’s for example is to focus in on developing this skill. Our future leaders will be called upon to be forward thinking.

1. Create and conduct lectures and workshops for leading universities and marketing organizations.
2. Stay active in social media. Tweet and view learning as a continuous process. Author a new book. Push ahead. Re-imagine. Write content that energizes.

1. I’m fortunate to manage CustomerThink.com, which features some of the smartest people on the planet in marketing and many other disciplines. So there’s no lack of innovative ideas. The trick is figuring out which ones to use.
2. I like to watch the intersection of customer trends and technology trends. Solve interesting problems there and you’ll invent the future you want to see.

1. I play the piano almost every night, even when I travel (you can often find me in empty hotel ballrooms playing the piano late at night). Music uses completely different parts of your brain, and I find it very stimulating. You gotta get out of the hood to find new ideas.
2. I rely on many sources, but I particularly like TED talks and conversations with academics. These take me out of my comfort zone and talk to ideas and possibilities that are often very new to me.

1. I study and write about BOLD brands and their inspiring leaders to find out how they are transforming their markets. http://bit.ly/YIwKh3
2. Look at the failures of the past; they are often a guide to the successes of the future.

1. Voracious listening. Voracious reading. Voracious travel. All the better when either takes me someplace I didn’t expect, or pushes my point of view.
2. I stay focused on what customer’s value (and will pay for), not just what they’ll accept. What’s the unmet need? Who will solve it?

1. Innovative ideas are in rich supply. I find them through researching, exploring, sharing, brainstorming, facilitating and generally being a continuous learner. An idea is only as good as your ability to effectively synthesize and apply it to solve a problem or envision a new opportunity.
2. Look for gaps in the interfaces, longer-term implications and yet-to-be articulated opportunities that when addressed have potential to leapfrog current practice.

1. To keep my creative juices flowing, I need to consume information – written and from people aka insights. Every part of my being is about info consumption – finding casual, ethnic and exotic treats to feed my brain. I don’t know how the human body works, but ‘this food’ creates an energy that ignites new thinking and always leads to innovation.
2. I keep my eye on the future by tracking over 50 trends from social media to nanotechnology. You would be surprised what you learn by opening your mind to new categories/industries/interests. Twitter is great for tracking business / market intelligence.

1. Teaching my smart MBA students. I read broadly and think deeply about marketing issues to create class sessions to improve their thinking. Interactions with my students in and outside of class, in turn, improve my thinking. Every class is a great inspiration to me.
2. I started The CMO Survey to collect forward-looking measures of marketing. These indicators offer insight. In addition, my focus is on customers and what they want and need. When we follow this lead, it is hard to miss the mark.

1. How and where do you find innovative ideas? Answer: I can express my personal story on this topic in six words: “Old dog, new tricks, no problem!” I love the idea of lifelong learning, so I read and network to tease out new ideas wherever I can.
2. What’s the best way to keep your eye on the future? Answer: To remember this formula; Legacy Mindset = Creativity Killer.

Remember, there are only two kinds of managers; the growing and the obsolete. Be a lifelong learner.